The northern border of the United States has seen a dramatic increase in illegal immigration in recent months, especially by Mexican nationals who fly over the U.S. into Canada and then cross southward. What is behind this phenomenon? Todd Bensman on the CIS.org website says the answer lies in a policy change that Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made in 2016, which has created a loophole for Mexicans to enter Canada without visas.
Trudeau’s policy was a reaction to Donald Trump’s election as president and a gesture of solidarity with his progressive liberal base who opposed Trump’s immigration agenda. On December 1, 2016, Trudeau lifted the visa requirement for Mexicans that had been imposed by his predecessor in 2009, after a wave of fraudulent asylum claims by Mexicans overwhelmed Canada’s immigration system. Instead of visas, Mexicans only need to obtain an electronic travel authorization (eTA) online for $7, which allows them to fly into Canada as visitors.
This policy has enabled many Mexicans who are seeking to enter the US illegally to bypass the southern border, where they face–at least until May 11–rapid expulsions under Title 42 due to Covid-19 concerns. The Biden administration has been more lenient with other nationalities, granting them humanitarian parole or releasing them into the US pending their immigration court hearings. As a result, Mexicans have become disadvantaged at the southern border compared with other migrants.
However, by flying into Canada with an eTA and then crossing south into the U.S. through remote areas along the northern border, Mexicans can avoid Title 42 expulsions and seek asylum or other forms of relief in the US. According to Border Patrol data, apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the northern border rose from 165 in fiscal year 2020 to 1,214 in fiscal year 2021 (as of August), an increase of more than 800 percent. Most of them were Mexican nationals.
This trend poses serious security risks for both Canada and the US, as it opens up a new route for smuggling drugs, weapons and people by transnational criminal organizations such as Mexican cartels. In fact, some of the illegal immigrants apprehended at the northern border have been identified as cartel operatives or associates who were sent by their bosses to scout or establish new smuggling corridors.
There is no evidence that the Biden administration has ever demanded change at multiple U.S.-Canada immigration meetings that have taken place since January. It seems that both countries are reluctant to confront each other over this issue, despite its implications for their national interests and sovereignty. The Canadian policy behind the surge of illegals – and Mexican cartel operatives – at the northern border remains unchanged and unchallenged.
For more, see CIS.org.